Yantic Volunteer Fire Company shows off its history

The Yantic Volunteer Fire Company opened its doors Saturday to share its history with the community and wound up receiving some historical information and memorabilia from its past from some visitors.

John Penney

The Yantic Volunteer Fire Company opened its doors Saturday to share its history with the community and wound up receiving some historical information and memorabilia from its past from some visitors.

Assistant Chief Paul O’Connell said the Juzwik family came to the event and gave the company photos and documents about the Yantic station from the 1920s, when Henry Juzwik was a member of the department.

Among the items the family, including his daughter, Bally Juzwik Jones, donated was a copy of the original bylaws, that tells the history of the department, including how many bells rang to indicate where a fire was.

There also was a photo of Juzwik in his full dress uniform.

“It’s the kind of history we are always looking for,” O’Connell said. “We will put it in our archive.”

The department’s history was on full display Saturday, including dozens of fire-fighting tools, some dating back to the department’s formation in 1847. Antique steam-driven, horse-drawn fire engines sat near manual pumper sleds. On a side table, a variety of axes, hammers and breaching tools were laid next to helmets, oxygen tanks and protective coats.

“It’s good to give the community an idea of what a fire service does for them and for how long they’ve been doing it,” said Eric Conley, a five-year member of the department. “You can walk into the station and see pictures of this equipment and then go out an see the real thing, seeing the progression.”

The open house also featured a couple of fairly new trucks that still roar to life whenever a call comes in. Charlie Gorman, 2, climbed into and around a 1979 engine truck while his family shaded their eyes in the bright sunshine.

“There’s a lot of hard work needed just to preserve these kinds of things,” Ron Hayman, of Norwich, said. “These guys already undergo a lot of time-consuming training.”

Conley said most of the department’s older equipment is strictly for display or the occasional parade. He pointed out an 1890s-era Silsby Steam engine. Its boiler needed to be fire-heated to produce enough steam to propel water from its nozzles. An 1800s hand-tub pumper required men to lean on side handles — like a railroad handcar — to exert enough water pressure to extinguish a blaze.

“We do some cosmetic work, but the quotes we’ve gotten to get these pieces operational run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars,” he said. ‘We do a lot of fundraising in the community throughout the year, money for which helps us maintain the building and the antiques, so we invited people out here today to see where their money goes.”

Deputy Chief BJ Herz said fire-fighting has come a long way even during his 26-year tenure.

“There’s helmets now with thermal imaging capabilities,” he said. “Back when I started, we had to feel our way around.”